The past year had been a difficult one, the year when the earth remained shut. We all were forced to stay inside, something totally against the nature of man, who is created free and loves his freedom. The deadly Covid-19 took over the entire planet and drastically altered the course of life.
All walks of life are greatly disturbed by the effects of this virus and almost nothing had remained the same. Among all this, ones who suffered a lot more than others were students, who were, with everyone else, forced to stay inside and weren’t permitted to attend educational institutions, resulting in large academic gaps. . As of 12 January 2021, approximately 825 million learners are currently affected due to school closures in response to the pandemic.
As soon as the pandemic started spreading, educational institutions were closed in Pakistan for an unknown duration. The education system of Pakistan had never been strong enough to support all the students coming daily in their respective schools, let alone provide them online education.
Online education, is one of the biggest issues which emerged during this pandemic. Many universities and schools in Pakistan weren’t able to develop online educational platforms for their students, which resulted in a great academic loss of students. Although, this problem was sorted out to some extent later but still internet connectivity issues, technical issues, time management and lack of in-person interaction and understanding of different concepts remained consistent.
The closure of academic institutions resulted in the cancellation of different examinations worldwide, delayed university admissions and disturbed the whole academic schedule of the year. Results based on previous performances hadn’t satisfied the students, which had remained a bone of contention between the educational institutions and students. The decision of taking on-campus exams in Pakistan in universities and colleges, after entire semesters being taught online, is one of the major issues nowadays.
Students living in far-off areas suffered the most, as the internet is not available all across Pakistan. The unsympathetic and illogical educational policies of different academic institutions worsened the situation even more.
As of now, after much academic distraught, the institutions in Pakistan have been opened, which is a healthy decision. Although, all of what has been lost in the previous year, regarding lives and education cannot be gained back, but still, there’s hope that the coming days will bring something far better than what is gone.
Wareesha Ali is a student of Pak-Turk Maarif International School and College Islamabad. She is editor of student corner and writes article for the news agency.
